I picked this up locally and am curious about the model/year. It looks like an 85-88 Ascent but it has a few details that aren't lining up with what I can find online. The serial number is the first mystery as it is only three numbers (705) and doesn't follow the sequencing that I have found on (ritchey.vintagebicycledatabase.com). It is a 17" frame so maybe the 7 is for the size and 05 is the number frame but it is supposed to have a letter first to identify the model. The other oddity is that the bottom bracket looks somewhat fillet brazed where as the other Ascent frames I can find all look tig welded along with the top tube joints. The sticker on the top tube is also the more sought after "Handmade by Tom Ritchey" and not the "Handmade by Ritchey Bikes" that I have seen on some of the others. As a side note it does have a Pedersen SE U-Brake which have heard is one of the nicer versions of the type of brake and somewhat sought after. The other components are Shimano Mountain LX with a newer crankset added.

Appears more as a Ritchey handwork vs volume Asian produced Ascents. Then there's the high end Tange Prestige tubing decal. If legit Prestige, its certainly more special than the common Ascent having 4130. Did some have rack bosses, no hole in the stay bridge, perhaps an early Ascent? Check online database?

Fillet and TIG joinery.

Difficult to see all the components, but I dig the decal on that Shimano rear derailleur. Seems the stem and bar were changed out. Same goes for the saddle and post.

Bought one new in 1988, (I think it was languishing stock) The "handmade" graphic is in the wrong location for what I have seen.
I still ave mine, albeit repainted as the paint failed at the braze-ons in the later 90's.
Good bike.

It's been a long time, but the shop where I worked in 1985 sold these. If I remember correctly, these were a sort of semi production model. Price was less than the full fillet brazed custom Tom Ritchey - made by Ritchey himself - bikes, which we also sold. Quality was still top shelf. I don't remember the specifics of the story. Perhaps someone does.

Since the decal on the top tube says "Handmade by Tom Ritchey", could indeed be handmade by the man himself. If so, color me very jealous!

The best I can remember, it was somewhere in between. Like he had the main frames TIG'ed, and added the stays and the braze-ons himself, or something like that. Also, he had some helpers around this time.

I remember them as having bullmoose bars, but that may have only been for the first year or two.

The Ultra was the model that was half tig, half fillet brazed. Also available with a u brake so it's not out of the question this is some kind of Ultra. The red frame/black fork is definitely an Ascent paint scheme though.

It looks like it might be an early Ascent Comp, which was a step up from the regular Ascent. Does anyone have information on this model? It seems that they mixed the fillet brazing and the tig welding with the red black color scheme so it all seems to fit. This model shows up in the 88 catalog but I have found pics of earlier ones (84-86) that fit this color scheme so maybe this explains the upgraded frame construction.

It looks like it might be an early Ascent Comp, which was a step up from the regular Ascent. Does anyone have information on this model? It seems that they mixed the fillet brazing and the tig welding with the red black color scheme so it all seems to fit. This model shows up in the 88 catalog but I have found pics of earlier ones (84-86) that fit this color scheme so maybe this explains the upgraded frame construction.

Do all of those model years show a chainstay u-brake? That helps to narrow down the date range for a lot of vintage mountain bikes. They seemed to only exist around the 87 model year for mainstream manufacturers, but not sure on smaller production brands like this.

I have a Late 1985 Ascent, the no hole in the brake bridge and rack mounts are correct. As far as i read, on the Ascents, the frames were made to Ritcheys specs with his tubing specs. overseas and then shipped back to Ritchey and he finished the frames by adding all of the braze-ons. and then painting them.

I agree the Handmade by Ritchey sticker i have never seen up on the top tube , and given that i think the Ascent in Red / Black was only in Late 1985 and 1986. If it is a Ascent then the Prestige sticker would not be correct. only the Ultra and Team Comp had Prestige. But the Ascent i have has a Tig Welded bottom Bracket Shell , not filet brazed.

Thanks for the post! What is the serial number for yours? I agree it is mostly an ascent but the difference in some of the small details is making me wonder. It could be that it was just an early version and they were trying to figure out the best cost to quality ratio for the Ascent. Either way it is a cool find. Another difference I see from yours to mine is that my rear shifter cable is routed through the u-brake mount and not on the side like in your pic. I have sent an email to Ritchey in the off chance that they might have some sort of record for these early mountain bikes that donít follow the normal serial number sequencing. If I hear anything back I will post it here.

Ritchey lays this to rest in an interview somewhere online. On the tig bikes, he did everything BUT tig weld the main tubes. He would not divulge who tigged, but said they were very good and local to him. He even tacked them up. He did the brazes, aligning, any finishing work, and then painted. He never outsourced frames in the 80's, and until I don't know when, possibly some of the "breakaway" may be different.

I thought the frames were tig welded overseas? Or were they outsourced but only locally? Either way its a cool frame with a history in the early days of mountain biking. I wish it were a couple sizes up as the 17Ē frame is too small for me.